[toaster]

Probably the same unit I used for a week on demo. Once I heard it could not resist. The cable is awesome to use and all music sounds great. Still like Ely better on vocals but everything else Traillii is the best I have heard. Doubt the C9 would change much but interested to hear. Also using P6P.

Ely vocals are haunting...

Erlky is very close if not tied with ely on vocals, but I’ve never been able to confirm since I haven’t spent any more time with ely since acquiring the erlkonig.

part of me still believes that the ely vocals have a bit of an edge, but can’t say for sure.

with all the ely madness going around, it’s likely only a matter of time before I scoop up another one for some official testing...

 

[aaf evo]

Will do! BTW if you go to C9’s discussion thread, you will find a couple of P6 Pro users there as well, such as @lumdicks and @decur.

Edit: add a pic of the most expensive portable combo: P6 Pro + C9 + Traillii. I am getting an audition unit of Traillii later today from Musicteck! Getting excited for it.

really looking forward to your Traillii impressions as well as what the C9 does for it added on top of your DAP.

 

[bluestorm1992]

really looking forward to your Traillii impressions as well as what the C9 does for it added on top of your DAP.

Will post the review here after I spend some quality time with it!

 

[mungster]

Ooops bye bye 4k

Yeah bye bye 4k. Actually 3k. Lol

 

[noplsestar]

It does feel a little silly to spend almost 4 grand on a DAP only to “turn off” its amp and replace it with another 2000$ amp

Yes, it does feel a little silly, but in my case (LPGT ti with Romi Audio amp) it just sounds too good, so I am sticking to stacking

 

[Vitaly2017]

Yeah bye bye 4k. Actually 3k. Lol

So you like it after all even with the software limitations?

Have you tried the dsd? There is a weird noise , like a cpu kind of noise electrical hiss going when playing dsd.

 

[bluestorm1992]

I sold a bunch of gears after getting C9, do in some way it helps me to save money.

 

[RTodd]

Ely vocals are haunting...

Erlky is very close if not tied with ely on vocals, but I’ve never been able to confirm since I haven’t spent any more time with ely since acquiring the erlkonig.

part of me still believes that the ely vocals have a bit of an edge, but can’t say for sure.

with all the ely madness going around, it’s likely only a matter of time before I scoop up another one for some official testing...

I would describe vocals on Ely as full, no edge to me. The vocals come forward and they sound more satisfying.

Never heard the Erlky, it is obsolete now right? would have to try used. If VE releases a new version I will demo it.

 

[Damz87]

I would describe vocals on Ely as full, no edge to me. The vocals come forward and they sound more satisfying.

Never heard the Erlky, it is obsolete now right? would have to try used. If VE releases a new version I will demo it.

I think what @toaster meant by “edge” is that Elysium’s vocals are slightly better than Erlkonig’s. In other words, the Elysium’s vocals have the edge over Erlkonig’s.

And yes, the Erlkonig has been discontinued, unfortunately.

 

[RTodd]

I think what @toaster meant by “edge” is that Elysium’s vocals are slightly better than Erlkonig’s. In other words, the Elysium’s vocals have the edge over Erlkonig’s.

And yes, the Erlkonig has been discontinued, unfortunately.

Dummy me, I took literally. Think your right.

 

[justsomesonyfan]

It does feel a little silly to spend almost 4 grand on a DAP only to “turn off” its amp and replace it with another 2000$ amp

exactly why i asked, especially for iems, which don't require much powah.

 

[gLer]

It does feel a little silly to spend almost 4 grand on a DAP only to “turn off” its amp and replace it with another 2000$ amp

I've never actually understood why anyone would do that, certainly not for IEMs. For headphones I get it, some need more power and control than even powerful DAPs can provide. But hey, it's as much a gear collecting hobby as anything else, so...

So you like it after all even with the software limitations?

Have you tried the dsd? There is a weird noise , like a cpu kind of noise electrical hiss going when playing dsd.

This is not uncommon with many R2R DACs. R2R can't decode DSD natively, only PCM, so the DSD 'decoder' some companies use with their R2R DACs can cause this. I remember the Audio-gd R2R-11 had this issue back in my desktop days. Bottom line, DSD is generally a compromise on R2R - in fact I converted all my DSDs to PCM when I had an R2R DAC as my main system.

 

[bluestorm1992]

I've never actually understood why anyone would do that, certainly not for IEMs. For headphones I get it, some need more power and control than even powerful DAPs can provide. But hey, it's as much a gear collecting hobby as anything else, so...

This is not uncommon with many R2R DACs. R2R can't decode DSD natively, only PCM, so the DSD 'decoder' some companies use with their R2R DACs can cause this. I remember the Audio-gd R2R-11 had this issue back in my desktop days. Bottom line, DSD is generally a compromise on R2R - in fact I converted all my DSDs to PCM when I had an R2R DAC as my main system.

In my own experience, some TOTL DAPs do not have enough power/good enough amp capability to drive certain IEMs. That was my complaint for LPGT back in the days. I upgraded from LP6K to it hoping to better drive my IER-Z1R and LCD-i4. The LPGT did perform better than 6K, but not to a satisfactory level to my ears.

We have seen users of SP2000 and R8 report a significant improvement in driving IEMs when paired with C9. Maybe the P6 Pro could be sufficient for any IEM, or it can still further benefit from a better Amp portion. I will let the actual owners draw the conclusion, or wait until I get an audition unit so that I can talk about it.

 

[toaster]

Dummy me, I took literally. Think your right.

Thanks, @Damz87.

yes, what damz said is what I meant, @Todd R.

 

[gLer]

In my own experience, some TOTL DAPs do not have enough power/good enough amp capability to drive certain IEMs. That was my complaint for LPGT back in the days. I upgraded from LP6K to it hoping to better drive my IER-Z1R and LCD-i4. The LPGT did perform better than 6K, but not to a satisfactory level to my ears.

We have seen users of SP2000 and R8 report a significant improvement in driving IEMs when paired with C9. Maybe the P6 Pro could be sufficient for any IEM, or it can still further benefit from a better Amp portion. I will let the actual owners draw the conclusion, or wait until I get an audition unit so that I can talk about it.

I don't know, for me, if the R8 didn't drive both my IEMs (Fourte and LX) superbly, I'd send it back. It's inexcusable for a flagship DAP not to be able to drive even the most picky IEM, in my opinion. To spend that much money on a DAP only to discard half its functionality? Rather use my phone (or a basic DAP) and a C9 if that's the case.

I suspect it's a matter of flavour, as are so many things at this level. If you have an R8 (or even an LP6, which has less power than an R8 but still more than enough for any IEM) and are hearing improvements with the C9, then I'd wager it's more about the flavour of the C9, and its flexibility (with tubes for example) than needing more power. Same with the BX2, but that's total overkill for IEMs IMO.